Thursday, July 5, 2012

MLS news and notes

Couple tidbits from MLS this fine Thursday to pry you away from your rapturous Michael Bradley appetite, which I'd hope NSC satisfied in one way or the other this week. Glad to welcome any and all takers for the Roma train at this station.

— LA fans got another kick to the jewels on Wednesday, and surprisingly it wasn't Chivas doing the booting. The Galaxy went down 1-0 to Philly early on a pretty back heel from Jack McInerney only to equalize through Chad Barrett's first of the year. Then, in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time, Lionard Pajoy's brilliant back heel set up Michael Farfan for a goal he airbrushed into the far netting. This came just days after San Jose slapped LA with three straight goals for a stunning 4-3 result that stands as the game of the year to this point. Grasp at those straws, Galaxy fans.

— Not long after San Jose triumphantly came back from two goals down to finish off the hated Galaxy, they laid an egg against struggling Portland in a 2-1 loss on Tuesday. Did not see that coming, though the Quakes were unlucky not to get the tying goal in the late stages after bossing play. I have a question for you: Has any MLS result this entire year genuinely surprised you? I can't say I've been shocked by anything since TFC upset the Galaxy in the CCL. And even that, given the benefit of what we know now, looks increasingly less shocking by the hour.

FCD is a sad case. An unholy amount of injuries have scuttled what should have been a very good team, though that winless streak is still surprising. The good news of course is that Ferreira is more or less back and so is Villar. The bad news is that neither George John nor Ugo Ihemelu can say the same. It tends to be one thing or the other with this club since that fateful MLS Cup loss.

Who is NSC?

NSC is run by Greg Seltzer (MLSsoccer.com), who has reported on soccer across the globe since 2001, covering MLS, MLS Cup, U.S. Men, Women & Youth national teams, World Cup, Gold Cup, U-20 World Cup, the UEFA European Championship, UEFA Champions League and Europa League, UEFA Cup, CONCACAF and UEFA qualifiers, Premiership, Bundesliga, Eredivisie, various second-tier leagues, domestic cups and international friendlies.